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Plasma Immunoreactive β-Endorphin Levels in DepressionEffect of Electroconvulsive Therapy
George S. Alexopoulos, MD;
Charles E. Inturrisi, PhD;
Robert Lipman;
Richard Frances, MD;
Jane Haycox, RN;
John H. Dougherty, Jr, MD;
Jean Rossier, MD, PhD
Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1983;40(2):181-183.
Abstract
• Immunoreactive (ir) plasma β-endorphin level was assayed in ten symptomatic patients with a unipolar major depressive disorder and in 16 psychiatrically normal controls matched for age and sex. Plasma ir-β-endorphin level in depressed patients was similar to that in controls. All depressed patients had a transient, approximately threefold increase in ir-β-endorphin after each use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). The increase of plasma ir-β-endorphin level after ECT parallels the transient elevation of adrenocorticotropic hormone-level reported by others and probably reflects a hypothalamic response to ECT.
Author Affiliations
From the Department of Psychiatry, New York Hospital—Cornell Medical Center, Westchester Division, White Plains (Drs Alexopoulos and Frances and Ms Haycox); the Department of Pharmacology, New York Hospital—Cornell University Medical College (Dr Inturrisi and Mr Lipman); the Department of Neurology, St Mary's Medical Center—University of Tennessee, Knoxville (Dr Dougherty); and the Laboratoire de Physiologie, Nerveuse, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Gif-sur-Yvette, France (Dr Rossier).
Footnotes
Accepted for publication March 30, 1982.
Reprint requests to Department of Psychiatry, New York Hospital—Cornell Medical Center, Westchester Division, 21 Bloomingdale Rd, White Plains, NY 10605 (Dr Alexopoulos).
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ABSTRACT
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